There comes a time in everyone's life when they realise that parties are overrated. For Hermione Granger, this time came very early. Shortly after she stopped being invited to birthday parties at the tender age of seven, she realised she wasn't really a fan of them anyway.

Entering the wizarding world and discovering that she wasn't a total freak helped her appreciate parties again. Having friends certainly made them easier, but she genuinely preferred a quiet evening in with her friends. Or better yet, a quiet evening in with a book or three.

There are, sadly, some parties that even she, a war heroine and a rising star in the political wizarding world, couldn't get out of. Parties thrown especially for her that manners dictated she attend the majority of. Engagement parties were one such occasion.

The only good thing was that she hadn't had to plan anything. Most people would assume that she wouldn't, couldn't, have let anyone plan something so important, but she wasn't fussed about having a party to celebrate an engagement. All she wanted was her friends there, especially Harry, who she had long considered a brother.

She stood, now, behind two doors that led onto a balcony where she would be presented to her guests. Apparently, this was some wizarding tradition but she hadn't been able to find it in any of the books she'd read, and she highly suspected that it was all a trick of her future mother-in-law's. It was just the kind of thing she would do.

Hermione glanced at the man standing beside her, squeezing his hand. He glanced down at her and grinned, his excitement clear.

"You ready, Hermione?"

"As soon as you've finished checking your reflection, Malfoy."

"Careful, love, you'll be a Malfoy yourself soon."

She laughed as the violins in the ballroom started, announcing their imminent arrival.

Ron Weasley stood beside his sister, pulling at his robes as the violins started.

"Why did I have to wear these stupid things again?"

"Because Narcissa insisted." Ginny was watching the balcony, and Ron sighed as he glanced up.

"When are they gonna come out? The sooner they do, the sooner we can get to dinner."

Ginny sighed, but it was Pansy who replied. "You wouldn't be so hungry if you'd actually woken up in time to eat lunch."

"You said it would last for hours, and I didn't want to be sleepy during all the dancing. Besides, Daphne kept me up." Ron smirked and nudged Harry who was on his other side.

Harry chuckled. "Trust me, Ron, I know all about witches being up all night."

Ron grimaced. "That's my sister and my ex, could you maybe not talk about what you guys get up to?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Lily couldn't sleep last night, or did you forget that we have a three month old child in the house?"

Ginny shushed them all as the doors finally opened, and Hermione and Draco walked out to quiet applause.

Narcissa sat beside her husband at the head of the long dining table, where over 100 of the richest wizards in Britain sat amongst the young and beautiful, as well as enough reporters to make sure the event was in the press for weeks, and smiled widely. She'd done it. She'd been planning her son's engagement party since he'd first come home from school and spent a week locked in his room because Pansy wouldn't reply to his owls. The person he was marrying might have changed, but that was probably for the better.

Lucius leaned closer so those closest couldn't hear him. "Proud of yourself, my darling?"

She smiled wider, lifting her glass and taking a small sip. "It's been wonderful. Everyone arrived, and everything's going to plan."

"Did you think anyone would refuse an invitation from you?" Lucius laughed slightly. Everyone knew that Narcissa Malfoy threw the only parties worth going to, and an invitation to a soiree by her was never to be sniffed at. It was her skills that had allowed them to return from the brink of social exclusion. It had taken her years, but the Malfoy family was once again at the top. Part of it was Draco's long courtship with his new fiancée, and Narcissa knew she owed a lot to her.

Narcissa kissed her husband on the cheek, whispering in his ear. "Do you remember our own engagement party?"

His smile turned wicked, and his hand moved from above the table to resting just above her knee. "Do you mean the time we snuck from this very ballroom and found that little alcove on the second floor?"

She smirked as his hand inched higher. "Yes. I don't think anyone would miss us for a few moments after dessert, do you agree?"

They smiled at each other for a short while longer, food almost forgotten as a bubble wrapped around them. Nearly thirty years of marriage hadn't damped the love they felt for each other, but soon they turned back to their guests and joined conversations that caused their laughter to echo in the high ceiling.

Ginny threw herself into a seat beside Theo Nott-Weasley, glancing at his dazed face and the three glasses of champagne beside him. "What's got you so stunned? Did Percy finally show you his books on cauldron size?"

"Mine's bigger." Theo drained a glass, picking up the one beside it and ignoring the snickers coming from his sister-in-law. "And I don't think you want to know what I just saw."

"Theo, I lived with Ron for years. I think I can cope with just about anything." She snagged the last glass on the table, toasting him and watching Harry spin Pansy around the floor.

Theo shuddered slightly. "Perc and I stayed with him one weekend, but he'd forgotten what day we arrived and we found him on his living room floor just… covered with limbs. But that's nothing compared to seeing people you consider parents doing acts I didn't think were anatomically possible."

Ginny's eyes widened. "You caught Lucius and Narcissa?" She squealed loudly, drawing the attention of nearby tables. "Oh, this is too good. I need to go find Narcissa, immediately." She stood, crossing the dancefloor between numbers, grabbing Luna on her way to find Narcissa.

Percy slid into the seat his sister had just vacated, bringing more champagne. "I'm assuming you told her?" Theo nodded but didn't say anything, just leant towards his husband. "Did you tell her why we were in the corridor?"

Theo lifted his head, horror etched onto his face. "Merlin, no, I don't want everyone knowing we were looking for a room together."

"You know…" Percy leaned closer, his voice lowering so the gossips sitting nearby couldn't hear. "We could always leave. We've been here for ages already." He kissed Theo gently, smiling when he heard the gasp.

They both stood, quickly saying their goodbyes and claiming an early start the next morning.

Hermione didn't get a moment to herself until the last guest left, by which time her feet were aching despite Narcissa's best charms. It was 3am, long past the time she thought it would end, but Narcissa was grinning as she waved goodbye to the last reporter.

Draco came up behind Hermione and brushed her hair over one shoulder, his hands working to relax her tense muscles. "You ready to go home?" His voice was hopeful, and Hermione knew he was as exhausted as her. If this was only the engagement party, what would the wedding be like? She dreaded to think, yet she couldn't bear disappointing either Narcissa or Molly, both of whom had stepped in as a mother to her, and both of whom were excited to plan a traditional wedding that would probably be more extravagant than anything seen before.

Narcissa stood at the entrance to the ballroom, watching her son hug his fiancée, and smiled as her own husband's arm wrapped themselves around her waist. "Are you leaving?"

Draco nodded, walking over to hug his parents. Once the four had embraced and said their goodbyes, Draco Apparated them both home while his parents left the ballroom to the capable hands of the house-elves. They had unfinished business after being interrupted earlier.

A/N: A birthday present for the ever wonderful Colubrina, who has got me through many things with her epic stories, and deserves a wonderful birthday.